Few people in the world would have a better perspective on Alex Ovechkin as it relates to this conflict given you covered him as a Capitals writer. How do you look at him given his relationship with the Putin government and how should American sports fans look at him as he’s continuing to play in the NHL?
Khurshudyan: I knew I would get this question here, and if I were you I would ask it. I have not said anything about this, really, to this point. When he [Ovechkin] talked about this in that kind-of-press conference. I don’t think he really came out against Russia at all, even though he said stop the war. I think he was saying whatever he felt like he should say. To be clear: I have done zero reporting, zero inquiry and I haven’t talked to anyone from the Capitals, talked to anyone from the Ovechkin side. I don’t know what he actually thinks about this and I don’t know what the Capitals think about this. So I’m completely speaking from my previous contacts and also my understanding of what the Russian atmosphere is like right now.
I think if you’re a sports fan, it’s totally fair to say ‘I don’t really care what Alex Ovechkin’s views are on Putin or Russia, I just really like him as a hockey fan.’ I think it’s also fair to say, especially if you’re a sports fan in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, ‘I have a big problem with this because his Instagram picture is still him and Putin together.’ I don’t think Alex is ever going to take a stance against Putin. What I have a problem with is when people make him a victim of this, because I don’t really believe he’s a victim and I don’t think that’s a fair characterization, especially if you’re describing victims in this whole situation. It’s not someone who I would consider to be a member of Russia’s elite. It would be Ukrainian people who are fleeing their homes and literally dying.
There are a lot of influential Russian people — late-night hosts, pop culture figures, the most popular rapper in Russia, people who work for state television — who have taken a stand against this, and at great risk to themselves, because they understand that this war is pretty senseless. I think for Ovechkin it would be incredibly uncomfortable to do so because he does have family there, because he and his wife hang out in a social circle with people who probably have bought into the Russian propaganda, that there is a justification for this war, that Ukrainians are neo-Nazis, that Russian speakers are being oppressed in Ukraine. All of that is false. We know that. But that is what is being sold on Russian television.
I think for Ovechkin there would be business losses if he stood up against this. He might have to take his family out of there. Those are things he might just not want to do. I guess I understand that. I don’t know if it’s fair or right to have him be accountable for this, but other people have (been). Other people have taken a stand. They have not been killed. Their families have not been killed. But they have had to leave the country. I think he could take a stand and he has a very powerful voice in Russia, where there are a lot of people who live there being fed one story from state media. He could break through that and kind of speak truth to Russians, but to a degree he’s choosing not to.